A Change in Plans
by Cerby
Summary: What would have happened if Vega had finished off the ShadowFox while Zero Panzer was stuck on the ground? An alternate ending to NC0, oneshot. Not for fans of the Blitz Team, you've been warned...


Hello! I'm back, er…yeah. This is my break from writing PCFT, because the fourth chapter was the longest yet, and I'm tired. The brain wants a change, and some carnage. (Because I haven't gotten to writing the scary battle scenes yet. That starts chapt. 5. Woo.)

Anyway, this is what the last episode of NC0 might have been if Vega'd used more sense, and Bit didn't have the plot writers behind him… (Sorry Bit fans, but he must die. Bwaha x3) Enjoyeth!

Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids. However, it's my fault the Blitz Team goes p00f. Yesh.

* * *

Underneath a hot sky in the hot sand, the Berserk Fury stomped along in boredom, tail swishing lazily behind it. In the cockpit, Vega himself was more or less on autopilot, eyes fixed straight ahead on the Ultrasaurus wreck in front of them.

Right in the middle of midstep the Fury stopped, jolting Vega back into reality and prompting him to spaz. "Eh? What's wrong?"

_I'm not sure,_ the Fury growled, twisting its head back and forth. _I think…wait…yes, it's this way…_ Drawing itself up with a snort, the silver dinosaurian turned and quickly began to trot off in the opposite direction, Vega tugging uselessly on the controls.

"_What's_ this way? We should be heading towards the goal!"

The Fury ignored his little human pilot. After all, he was only deadweight anyway.

* * *

Driving along as fast as the Hovercargo would allow, the Blitz Team was slowly making its way towards the finish line, unaware of the nasty surprise awaiting them. In the transformation bay, the Liger Zero was going from the totaled Schneider to Panzer, while the ShadowFox rested in the cargo hold, and everybody else was up on the bridge, getting high off adrenaline.

"Allright guys, the finish line can be found at the coordinates L155-D46! So log your Zoid gear onto that location, and the Royal Cup is ours!" Doc proclaimed, jubilant. From lower down near the controls, both Leena and Gemmy cheered and then began spewing useless advice at poor Bit and Brad.

Like they _didn't_ know to floor it, already.

In the middle of all the cheering and celebrating, a little mini-alert went off, and the Berserk Fury suddenly appeared onscreen ahead of them. That was effective enough to shut most of the celebratees up, and then the conversation took on a slightly panicked note.

* * *

Vega watched the Hovercargo approach, now moderately interested. Using his amazing deductive powers, he had concluded that the 'It' mentioned by his Fury earlier was most likely Liger Zero, the only other Ultimate X they'd ever come in contact with. It was also the only other Zoid that he considered a good fight.

Up above, a black WhaleKing hovered into view, throwing a shadow over the prone Berserk Fury. Vega groaned as his mother came on the radio, and immediately started scolding him about not going to the finish line and winning the Royal Cup. God, his mother was a _harpy_…why couldn't she just shut up and let him do what he wanted for once?

_"Vega, are you listening to me?"_

"YES, I am…" Vega muttered absently, turning off the radio despite Sarah's sputtered protests, turning to the business at hand. His Fury wanted to fight very much; he could tell that right away from the alert manner with which it was watching the Hovercargo, red eyes glowing dangerously.

Wait a minute…yes, the Blitz Team was launching their Zoids. Out came the ShadowFox from the electromagnetic catapult, and the Panzer dropped from a side panel. The Panzer piqued Vega's curiosity, with its large cannons and rather heavy-looking armor. He'd never seen that particular conversion before.

The Fury grunted to itself, and then roared in challenge to the other Zoids. They were weak, it was strong, they were cannonfodder and it was bored. Ripping them to pieces with the Buster Claws promised to be rather fun. That was, Vega _would_ let it shred them, right?

"Sure, why not. Do what you like." Vega grinned, patting the controls consolingly. His Fury wasn't the only one who liked chopping things into little pieces, and the Buster Claws were much more suited to the job than, oh, say a Sinker's nonexistent claws and fangs?

Hmm. The Liger Zero appeared to be roaring something to his Berserk Fury. That could prove interesting…

In response to whatever threat had been uttered by the other Ultimate X, the Fury chuckled and banged its tail on the ground. It wasn't scared of the ugly camo-green kitty, instead, it was rather amused by the petty threats it seemed able to utter underneath all that heavy armor.

Right in the middle of the great Threatening Word Match, a black streak hurtled down from the sky and smacked into the ground, throwing up giant clouds of dust and dirt as the dark judge capsule rose from the ground, opening to reveal a dark judge.

_"Well well well. Battle approved, battle approved."_ The judge drawled, boredom dripping from its tinny little voice. _"Team Vega VS… The Blitz Team! Ready…FIGHT!"_

_Bing!_

Somewhere in subspace a little bell rang, and the ShadowFox took off towards the Berserk Fury, front paws beginning to glow a bright, sunny gold. Vega looked at the oncoming foe, remotely amused, and the Fury was just plain bored.

_Still a one-trick pony, I see…_

"Sorry pal, but the Berserk Fury can remember the moves of anyone it's fought before." Vega smirked, watching the Fox jump high in the air in front of them. An aerial attack, eh…? Ah, well, a good time to get in some batting practice.

Timing it right as the Fox came down, the Fury stepped back and swung with its heavy Strike Smash Tail, slamming the canine Zoid in the side and sending it flying off to the right, where it hit the dirt and rolled over several times before lying still and unmoving.

Vega checked to make sure that the ShadowFox wouldn't get back up, and then his Fury growled. Apparently, the main threat of the Zero Panzer was preparing to blast them with the giant cannons on its back.

Pure folly.

The Berserk Fury remained still, as if _asking_ the Zero Panzer to please take good aim and give it a swift death, as if that would ever happen. Growling, both it and Vega waited, now mildly bored again.

The neon yellow sizzling doom shot from the Panzer's cannons, right for the Fury. Sighing, Vega reached over and activated the shield, and then sat back to watch the fireworks. He knew one thing for sure, his Fury was definitely going to get a laugh out of the poor Zero's expression when it found out that the attack failed.

Striding out of the smoke cloud with pink shield glowing, Vega chuckled as he found his prediction to be correct. "Not bad…that new armor's definitely more powerful than the other three." He mused, shutting down the shield and activating all the Fury's ankle and vernier thrusters. "Still…it doesn't have enough maneuverability!"

The Berserk Fury shot forward towards the Panzer, using its head as a wedge and smacking the heavier green Zoid under the jaw, using its speed as leverage to lift up the Liger. Unable to stabilize itself while on two legs, the Zero Panzer roared in pain and crashed to the ground, unable to move due to its own armor.

Vega brought the Buster Claws up in preparation for some heavy-duty slicing and dicing, when movement off to the right caught his eye. It appeared that the ShadowFox was starting to get up. That Zoid was worse than a cockroach with its head cut off.

Vega frowned as he looked down at the Panzer, then back at the Fox. He had to work quickly, because if that Fox got up, it could mean trouble. And the Panzer certainly wouldn't be going anywhere for a bit… Pulling the Fury's head over to the right, Vega activated the thrusters once more and the Berserk Fury shot forward towards the ShadowFox, Buster Claws spread wide.

The dark canine had managed to get up by now, but was still dazed as it tried to run away. Inevitably, it couldn't get away fast enough, and a blade from the Buster Claws sliced the ShadowFox's tail off.

The Fox screeched in pain, and the Fury wheeled, pivoting on one leg while its jaws charged with electricity. A quick lunge and two sets of shocking serrated fangs sunk into the ShadowFox's lower back, near the hips. There was a 'ch-CHAK' sound as the Laser Vulcan gun was jacked forward into firing mode, and then the Fury nearly lost his grip as the Strike Smash Tail was peppered with hundreds of bullets.

Swinging his tail out of the way to safety, the Berserk Fury reinstated his grip on the writhing Fox, before lifting it up and tossing it into the air. The pilot of the ShadowFox apparently tried to do some kind of a fancy flip while in midair, but Vega brought up the Buster Claws and opened fire with the 108-mm cannons.

Four blasts shot the right legs, left legs, Laser Vulcan gun, and then the head off the Fox, and then the Zoid dropped to the dirt in sizzling pieces. The Berserk Fury bellowed triumphantly, and then turned back to the struggling Panzer as Vega checked out the tail. It was covered in holes, making the tail armor resemble something like Swiss cheese, but the damage wasn't bad. The tail vents could still be opened, and the Particle Cannon charged.

Speaking of the Particle Cannon, Vega decided now would be a good time to fire it up and wipe the remainder of the Blitz Team off the face of the map. The Fury snarled in agreement, and crouched, lowering its head and sliding the CPC cannon barrel up from the depths of its throat. At the same time, the tail vents popped and the Buster Claws spread wide, glowing with charged particles from the air.

Just as Vega readied to fire, an alarm popped up on his screen, informing him that a judge satellite was crashing down. Apparently, it was one his mother had gone after earlier.

Damn Sarah!

"Just when I had everything under control." Vega growled, and pulled the Fury's aim up.

The blue-white beams of doom lanced out and away into the atmosphere, colliding with the satellite. Slowly at first, they began to eat away at the superheated metal, and then broke it up into millions of tiny little pieces.

Vega sighed, and flopped back, already turning his attention to the issue at hand- how best to destroy the Panzer in a gruesome yet civilized manner. The Berserk Fury hissed, jetting steam out his tail vents and then shutting them, before swishing his tail around and taking a step forward.

It seemed the trouble wasn't over yet, because the pieces of the satellite were now crashing down on the surrounding area. Vega noted the black WhaleKing running away, that was typical of Sarah. Run away; leave her son to fend for himself. What a coward.

Vega's attention pwiked as he realized that the Panzer had somehow gotten up, and was uncovering a frightful amount of missiles. The Fury growled in interest, and then the Panzer exploded, missiles flying all over the place and up into the sky, exploding piece after piece of the satellite.

A long smoke cloud stretched through the sky, and Vega whistled. "Wow. That was impressive." He commented, his Fury snarling unhappily. Vega shouldn't _praise_ the enemy, it wasn't right.

"Oh, be qui- look!" The Fury jerked to attention, just in time to see the Panzer drop its armor and turn back into a plain ol' naked Liger. Ooo, naked Liger. Zoid porn! Vega sighed and rolled his eyes, tapping the controls impatiently. "Get back in the game, Fury…"

_Pfft. Sorry._

Growling, the Fury brought the Buster Claws out and down, ready to spear some naked kitty butt. The Liger Zero roared back at them, but it clearly seemed to sense that it was outclassed, and started running back to the Hovercargo.

Smirking, Vega activated the thrusters and sent the Fury flying after Liger Zero. It only took them a moment to catch up, and then the Fury leaned forward and grabbed the fleeing cat by the tail.

The Liger roared, squalling in pain, and turned to try and swipe at the Fury to make it _let go of his tail_, but the hovering saurian was simply too quick and too high off the ground, gnawing away on the unfortunate Liger's tail.

After a couple moments, Vega quickly got bored and gave the ankle thrusters a little extra kick. The Fury shot off the ground into the air, dragging the Liger with it. Now twisting around in midair, the Liger Zero was extra mad, managing to shoot the Fury in the jaw a few times with the dual shock cannon.

The blasts didn't do much to the jaw armor, but it did cause the Berserk Fury to drop the Liger to the sand. It landed heavily, and then as it started getting up Vega cut the power and dropped nearly 130 tons of destructive power right on the Zero's back.

The squished white cat screamed, flailing around desperately, trying to get the oppressive weight of the Berserk Fury off his back, but all that accomplished was the Liger Zero digging deeper furrows in the sand with his claws. Vega smiled, and his Fury chuckled gleefully, silver fangs displayed in a frightful grin.

"Well buddy…it's out of my hands now. Have fun."

No sooner did Vega give the order than the Fury leaned down and sank its teeth into the Liger's neck, powerful jaws ripping out a huge chunk. Its tiny front arms also began to glow a bluish color, as they charged with laser energy and began hacking away at Liger Zero's shoulders.

Grunting, the Fury straightened up a moment and decided that its current position would be no good for feeding, so, planting one clawed hind foot firmly on the Liger's neck, it then proceeded to rotate and took a better position near the Zero's side. A Buster Claw came down, and aimed carefully. Firing twice, the powerful laser beams left a giant smoking crater in Liger Zero's stomach, exposing the Zoid's internal works, and more importantly the core.

Red eyes gleaming delightedly, the Berserk Fury shoved its snout into the Liger's stomach and ripped out the light-bluish core, chewing on the slippery thing as it leaked silvery fluid all over the place and hunks of the core itself dropped on the sand. Finally chewed to a proper degree, the Fury swallowed it and then seemed to burp.

Without its core, the Liger Zero was now beginning to fossilize, stone patches appearing at the tips of its paws, and spreading rapidly to other portions of its body. The normally bright orange eyes were lackluster, glass metamorphosing into solid black obsidian.

Vega looked down at the pitiful sight, and then pulled the Fury back from its feast, looking over at the frozen Hovercargo. Though he didn't really think its destruction was necessary, Sarah would probably yell at him if he didn't vaporize it, so… His Fury seemed to like blowing things to bits anyway.

Backing the Berserk Fury up a step and readying the Charged Particle Cannon, Vega took aim right at the main part of the Hovercargo, just below the bridge. The triple CPC was ready to fire, his Fury growling in anxiety to let it loose. Vega frowned, hoped he wouldn't hate himself for this sometime in the future, and smacked the button.

Snarling plasma death drilled into the Hovercargo, incinerating the main body of it almost instantly. For a moment, Vega wondered why they didn't put up a shield to try and save themselves. Maybe it was because they knew they were doomed. What remained of the Hovercargo then exploded, raining burning debris upon the surrounding area and turning the sky red.

Vega watched the Hovercargo burn for a few moments, then turned his Fury about to face the old Ultrasaurus wreck and hit the thrusters, sand flying up behind them as he jetted towards the finish line, ready to win the Royal Cup.


End file.
